Friday, June 30, 2006

If you want to see how government money can be wasted, look no further, it is there in your idiot box in the form of the Tea Board of India's campaign to increase the popularity of tea. The domestic consumption of tea is largest in India to the tune of 700 mn Kg. But the Board feels that there is still immense potential left for this commodity. Another problem anticipated by the board is that the younger generation is moving away from this drink to carbonated drinks. More importantly Coffee is considered " Cool" by the next gen , thanks to marketing efforts by Branded Coffee outlets like Barista, Coffee Beans etc.

So Tea Board wants to replicate the success of campaigns like Operation Flood and National Egg Coordination committee. The budget was fixed and the task entrusted to the most creative agency in the country ( rather world) , O&M.

The Outcome was a damn Squibb. The directionless campaign is a sheer waste of money and in any angle you look at it, the campaign will be given the award of the " Hopeless campaign of the year".

The idea behind the campaign is to promote the image of tea drinkers as being " Cool " to appeal to the younger generation. So the ad " dreadfully" tries to compare tea drinkers and " definitely not a tea drinker" and exhorts that tea drinkers are " cool". The baseline of the campaign says " Chai Piyo, mast Jiyo" has no connection with the message of the ad.

The apathy of O&M in executing the idea is evident may be because they feel that anything goes for a " Government board". But the agency has virtually damaged its reputation ( atleast in my mind) as a " serious creative agency". A demanding client will squeeze the creativity out of any damn agency, but it takes a "serious creative agency" to deliver creative output even for a small client.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Brand : WorldSpaceCompany: Worldspace India LtdAgency: Enterprise NexusBrand Count : 95WorldSpace is a pioneer in the satellite radio business.Worldspace was launched in India 5 years back is now getting their act together. This brand is all set to revolutionize the way Indians listen to music ( provided they make the right moves).

During the initial launch phase Worldspace faced lot of problems with regard to all the 4 P's of marketing. Since it was an entirely new product, the customers had to be educated about it and it is never easy. The fact that Indians was new to the concept of Paying subscription for a radio service made it more difficult for this brand to make headway.

With regard to the pricing also WorldSpace was launched with exorbitant price both for its receiver and the subscription which putoff the "value conscious" Indian consumer. Reports also say that initially the company faced problems in sourcing receivers for Indian market. All these factors virtually killed the future if this brand.

Last year saw the relaunch of WorldSpace . The brand was relaunched with aggressive marketing using TV Print and outdoor campaigns. The company rightfully reduced the entry price barrier by bringing in receivers that costs less than Rs.1500 . The subscription rates was also rationalized. This created a huge wave of interest in the Indian market. With 35 channels that offered unmatched range of entertainment with an affordable price tag was an offer that was too good to resist.

The first set of consumers who took the product was the retail shops. Worldspace offered an alternative to the conventional CD players. Now even a small retail shop can afford to have channel music without bothering about CD's.

Although the retail Shops have embraced this brand, it is still a tough call for Worldspace to enter into households. Although the ads have generated lot of interest among the music lovers, the subscription rate ( although it is reasonable) is playing spoilsports. This calls for much more than Non Personal promotions. It will be better if WorldSpace also look at meeting consumers directly and convince them about this beautiful service.I feel that since this product is new to Indian consumer, it needs some personal selling efforts. Once the brand breaks into the Indian households, the brand can sit back and relax.

This is a brand which has great potential and is going to create ripples in Indian entertainment industry.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Although Motorola has been there in India for a while , it had not been able to break into the Nokia fortress so far. Nokia is commanding a staggering 78% market share while Motorola is having 4.6 %.Never the less Indian market is growing leaps and bounds.

MotoPebl was launched in April 2006 after the success of MotoRZR and MotoSLVr is set to shake up the Indian market. Moto Pebl is a pathbreaking move by Motorola in many respect. With regard to the product characteristics, promotion and pricing, Motopebl is showing us that Motorola has finally discovered the marketing manthra to succeed in Indian market.

This brand is different from the other Motorola brands in the sense that MotoPebl focuses more on design and aesthetics rather than technology. Motopebl is inspired by nature. The promotion is also a significant shift from the earlier promotions. Motorola is perceived to be a technology company. Most of the ads were busy talking about the features of the product. I remember seeing double spread ads talking about the technology that was a immediate putoff for a non tech geek.

Motopebl talks to the right side of the brain. The ads are simple and so sharp that it provokes the TG to try out the product, that is the success of the campaign. The ads are so short and sharp that it is going to save Motorola lot of money. In the pricing also Motopebl is different because it is priced reasonably at 10990.

MotoPebl by all means have the potential to be a best seller. Nokia better watch out..

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Getz is India's first super mini. Super mini refers to premium hatchback cars which is popular in European countries. These are compact cars which have all the goodies of a luxury sedan.In the highly competitive Indian car market, Getz is an experiment . Hyundai have the guts to take risks. With the success of Santro: India's first tall boy car ,the excellent brand building and successful makeover of Santro gave Hyundai great confidence about its marketing ability.

Getz is positioned as a premium compact car and is priced between Santro/Zen and the sedans like Ikon and Accent. Although it is not in direct competition with sedans, Getz is trying to create a market for itself. The reason why Getz cannot compete with sedans is the typical mindset of Indian consumer who always put Sedans at a higher level (in terms of status) to hatchbacks.

This market is expected to increase in size because of higher traffic and difficulty in getting parking spaces. With the launch of Maruti Swift, this segment is witnessing heavy competition.

Auto reviews suggest that Getz is even superior to many sedans in terms of drive quality and the goodies. But with its pricing, the brand has restricted itself in to a niche player. The price of 4.5 lakhs is going to put off many consumers who will go in for a sedan rather than settle for a "Small car". It will take lot of money for Hyundai to overcome the " Small car " obstacle. With The Tata Indigo and Fiesta offering a " Large" car at the same price, Getz will find it hard on getting volumes.

The brand was launched with some colorful advertising which appeared to be less focused. The initial focus was on fun. Then came the lousy promo involving Sania Mirza endorsing the brand. Hyundai fail to remember that no one is going to buy and expensive car because Sania is driving it.

The recent campaign of Getz talking about its USP of " More Space" was an ideal example of " Poor Execution" of a good concept. The odd looking family members using the hands to send the message that they need more space is not only irritating but creates a bad impression on the owners. Those who travel in crowded trains will notice how bad we feel when someone deliberately push others to make more space for themselves.

Since Getz is a premium car, Hyundai could have created better pictures in the mind of the TG about the product, use better imagery and messages just as what Toyota is doing for Innova.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

This 235 year old cosmetics brand from England is yet to take off in India(after crashlanding) despite its long life here. The iconic brand was a hit in 1950's among the elite Indians but some how missed the liberalisation bus.

The brand which has a rich heritage was marketed by P&G and since they did not have any interest in the cosmetic market sidelined this brand. The brand was relegated to Talcum Powders and with no promotions and poor pricing has dampened the equity of this brand.

Yardley is now owned by Lornmead which is under the Jatania group : one of the richest Indian family in UK. If reports are to be believed, they have big plans for India and Yardley may fit into their strategies.

Yardley has been positioned as the quintessential English brand with its conservative look and royal touch. Although the brand was appealing to the TG in early nineties, the newer generation has not been kind to this brand ( or this brand is not existing to gennext). The cosmetic market is dominated by the likes of Revlon and Lakme, calls for a major rebranding exercise for this brand.

A look at their website revealed a whole range of luxurious perfume and cosmetic range which was sadly not available in India. Yardley have the advantage of being perceived as a Unisex brand and thus can extend the brand to a larger audience. Since the perfumes market is still undeveloped, Yardley have a huge market waiting for it.

What the company needs to do is to get its marketing mix correct and make the brand contemporary. If it does it fast, the brand has the potential to make it big

Monday, June 05, 2006

The indian confectionary market is estimated to be around 1200 crore and the mouth freshner market is estimated to be around 40 crore. The mint flavored confectionary market is around 175 crore.The mint market is now witnessing lot of competition. The market is dominated by Nestle's Polo which commands around 80% share. The other players include the brand Chlorets from Warner Lambert and the brands in the gum category like Happy Dent.

Chlormint was launched in 1997 in its green candy version followed by the gum variant. In 2003 Perfetti introduced the ice candy version. The market for this type of candy are those who wants fresh breath and those who smoke. The age group of TG is 15- 34.

Since confectionaries are impulse purchases and brand loyalty at the lower side, it is a big challenge for the marketers to keep the brand at the top the mind of the consumers. Perfetti knows the secret and Chlormint shows how to keep the brand interesting.

The ads of Chlormint asks the consumers the same question which any marketer asks themselves " Log Chlormint kyun Khathe hain?" . The answer, the ads say, is that it contains Herbasol which provides fresh breath. It may seem intially that the brand is trying to differentiate itself on the basis of its ingredient " Herbasol". But in reality the brand is just trying to say that its different and everyone knows it.

As with most of the brands, the ad agency thinks that the core market for these products is North India, hence the ads are heavy with Hindi and if translated to South Indian Languages will kill its humor and purpose. So most of Chlormint ads fail to click with non hindi speaking consumers.

The ads are outright funny( for those who understands it ) and always brings up a smile . In that way the brand is successful in keeping the excitement on,. There are many versions of " Dobara Math Poochna " campaign and the latest " Puppy beta" series is the funniest. The brand is positioned worldwide with the baseline " get closer".